Trawl board and the like



Jam 5, 1937. E. c. s. CLARK I TRAWL BOARD AND/THE LIKE Filed April 2, 1955 INVENTOR, .E'pkrwim 6.5620

ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 5, 1937 UNITED ST TENT OFFICE TRAWL BOARD AND THE LIKE Application April 2, 1935, Serial No. 14,244

11 Claims.

This invention relates to aquatic boards such as the trawl boards herein specifically referred to and others. The invention consists in certain improvements in trawl-fishing equipment and in an improved aquatic board, per se, whether of the trawl-board type or otherwise.

In trawl-fishing equipment the practice is to attach the divergent ends, or opposite points, of the mouth of the trawl net to a pair of trawl boards which are connected to a boat or equiva lent towing element by towing lines, the boards being weighted so as to stand upright and serving to spread the mouth of the net and the lines being so connected to the boards that in operation (i. e., under draft through the water) the boards are maintained in forwardly divergent relation to each other.

Ordinarily each trawl board has its relatively inner face perfectly flat as to the entire area of the board. This of course causes the boards to diverge from each other, but it also imposes an undue load on the power. I have found in prac tice that as great a degree of divergence of the boards can be attained with materially less expense of power if the inner face of each board forms in horizontal section a salient bend and the towing lines are so connected with the boards as to extend from their thus bent faces; preferably these bends are actually curved to convex form.

For the purpose of further reducing the resistance of each board to the draft and economizing the power, and also to insure the board freeing itself from bottom obstructions and facilitating the operations of hauling and setting it is found advisable to form the inner face of each board with a vertically salient bend, preferably convex, in section. For the same reasons the board may be advantageously formed oval.

Preferably, the underneath marginal surface of the board is flat but the construction is such that when this surface rests on the bottom in trawling the board stands tilted somewhat, so that its convex face is pitched away from the direction of the draft.

'The construction is further such that either end of the board may be its leading end.

In addition to these novel features of my invention each board includes certain novel details of construction which will be hereinafter pointed out.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a plan of the improved equipment as it exists when in operative state or in the act of trawling;

Fig. 2 is an inner or convex side elevation and Fig. 3 an outer or concave side elevation of one of the boards;

Fig. 4 is a plan of such board;

Figs. 5 and 6 are, respectively, sections on lines 5-5 and E--6, Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section on a larger scale and taken in the plane l--l, Fig. 3; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a detail.

The boat or other towing element is indicated at l; the trawl net at Z; the boards at 3; the board-towing connections at 4 arranged (as will appear) to maintain the corresponding board presented edgewise as shown to the general direction of the draft; and the net-towing connections between the boards and the respective extensions at opposite sides of the net mouth are shown at 5 (these connections appear crossed in Fig. 1 since the upper connection extends to a portion of the net relatively inward of the point to which the lower connection extends). By the term connections I mean to include, chains, cables or their equivalents.

Each board is concavo-convex horizontally (Fig. 5) and presents its salient, here convex, side toward the other board, giving the equipment the advantages hereinbefore indicated when such board is weighted, as will appear, and is also maintained when in operative state in the position indicated above and shown in Fig. 1 due to each connection 4 terminating in the branches to, two of which are attached one above the other to the forward portion of the board and the other two to its rearward portion, the latter two being longer than the first two branches. Each board is also concave-convex vertically (Fig. 6), giving the equipment the other advantages hereinbefore named. The curvature in either direction has a substantially constant radius. The board is also substantially oval in side elevation, with the advantages hereinbefore attributed thereto.

With reference to the details of construction of each board:

Its body portion comprises a plurality of layers (here two) of wooden planks 6 in which the planks of the layer which presents the convex side of the board extend horizontally and the planks of the other layer extend vertically, what is however here material being that the planks of one layer intersect in some way those of the other layer. The planksare steam-bent to obtain the concavo-convexity of the board and they together form a marginal surface on said body portion. Said body portion is of oval form, here truncated at that long side which corresponds to the bottom of the board so that said surface is straight, as at I (Fig. 3).

This marginal surface is embraced marginally by the following circumferential and in effect continuous structure which acts both as a protecting and reinforcing medium and retains the planks in their described bent form or against the influences of warping, and which also serves to weight the board at its bottom.

A heavy metal band 8, preferably having a cross-sectionally convex exterior surface, extends around that portion of the margin of said body which is curvilinear, or from one to the other end of the edge 1, and is secured thereto as follows: At intervals which correspond at least with the ends of each plank (see Fig. 2) screws 9 are driven through holes in the band into the planks. There will be at least two screws to each such end of a plank respectively entered through the band near its side margins, that adjoining either margin extending into a plank of the relatively opposite layer, as shown in Fig. 7. An elongated metal shoe IU, having a straight top surface lfla, a straight, fiat underneath bottom surface lllb, an upstanding lateral longitudinal flange I and end extensions lfld, is applied to the body portion so that its surface lOa bears against the edge I of said body portion, its flange lllc laps the convex side thereof and its extensions Hid are lapped by the ends of the band 3, being recessed to receive them and the two being penetrated and thus connected by some of the screws 9 as Fig. 2 shows, and such shoe is secured to said body portion by rivets i! or equivalent securing devices penetrating its flange and said body portion. The shoe extends laterally beyond the face of the board opposite to that from which the towing connections extend (Fig. 6) and has the major part of its mass at that side, thus to oppose any tendency of the board to careen forward and assist in righting the board if it does so.

Each of the branches 4a is arranged to extend from the convex side, whereas each of the connections 5 extends from the concave side, of the board. Each branch ta and each connection 5 is preferably connected with the board as shown in Fig. '7, to wit, it extends through a hole l2 in the board and has a terminal eye l3 which is penetrated by a metal cleat M which is aifixed to the board by suitable securing devices penetrating holes IS in the ends of the cleat.

In Fig. 6 the trawl board, having the fiat underneath surface Hlb to rest in sliding contact with the bottom a and means, as the shoe, to maintain it in an upright position, is pitched away from the direction of the draft. Being also vertically convex as to the face which faces in the direction of the draft it offers less resistance to the draft.

So far as I am aware the board of this invention presents certain novel characteristics making it useful for other purposes than as a part of a trawling system or the like, wherefore I claim such board independently.

The portions of the board at opposite sides of a vertical central plane through the board are reverse counterparts of each other so that the board can be used with either end leading, or at starboard or port, with equal efiiciency.

The present invention is a continuation in part of my abandoned application Serial No. 737,107, filed July 26, 1934.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim is:

1. A trawl board adapted to stand upright and having one face thereof conforming to a salient bend in substantially any of horizontal planes cutting the board and having the portions of said face at opposite sides of a vertical central plane through the board reverse substantial counterparts of each other.

2. A trawl board substantially as set forth in claim 1 characterized by the opposite face being substantially parallel to the first-named face.

3. A trawl board adapted to stand upright and having one face thereof conforming to a salient bend in substantially any of horizontal planes cutting the board and having the portions of said face at opposite sides of a vertical central plane through the board reverse substantial counterparts of each other, said face also conforming to a salient bend in substantially any plane angularly related to the first-named plane.

4. A trawl board substantially as set forth in claim 3 characterized by the opposite face being substantially parallel to the first-named face.

5. A trawling system comprising draft means and a trawl board adapted to stand upright on the bottom and having said means extending from one upright face thereof, said board having a basal surface and being bodily pitched relatively to said surface away from the direction of the draft.

6. The system set forth in claim 5 characterized by said face being convex.

'7. An aquatic board comprising, with edge-toedge wooden planks forming a body portion which is concavo-convex as viewed in sections in any two planes angularly related to each other and cutting the broad faces of the body portion, rigid continuous means secured to the body portion marginally thereof.

8. In a trawling system of the class described a trawl board adapted to stand upright when in use and as viewed toward either broad face being oval in form with the major axis of the oval substantially horizontal, one face of the board conforming to a salient bend in substantially any horizontal plane cutting the board.

9. A trawl board substantially as set forth in claim 8 characterized by having its said face also conforming to a salient bend in substantially any plane angularly related to the first-named planes.

10. An aquatic board formed throughout substantially its whole extent concavo-convex as viewed in either of two sections respectively coinciding with any two planes which cut the board faces of the board and intersect each other within the area of such faces.

11. In combination, with a trawl board adapted to stand upright and including a body portion and a weighting shoe affixed to the bottom of said body portion, draft means extending from one face of said body portion, said shoe having an approximately flat under surface and the major portion of its mass extending beyond the opposite face of the body portion, and said body portion being bodily pitched relatively to said under surface away from the direction of the draft.

EPHRAIM C. S. CLARK. 

